The Origin by Skymember Presents and Austin Ho

[james001a]

It is a project of extremes. They set the bar high on the production, but are at the bottom with customer updates. We all understand delays here on the UC but we don't accept a lack of communication. That's just not showing any kind of good faith in turn to the backers who put money up in good faith, posted positive comments over various social media, including these forums. It's a very disrespectful and foolish move, as we can also turn the other direction on creators also. There's been several I can remember, and I've never gone back to supporting any more of their projects.

[Harvonsgard]

Bayou got his and posted an unboxing on instagram. Seems like they finally arrive.

[bdawg923]

Yet they haven't posted an update since October

[Sir Toddalot]

I was excited to see that, but he did say in the comments he paid extra to get it shipped sooner.

[bdawg923]

Which leads me to believe they ran out of money and can't fulfill the project because of their poor planning and money management

[Sir Toddalot]

I personally would be happy to pay extra shipping just to make sure I get it, but they haven’t responded to any of my pms for the last few weeks. This was one of my highest KS pledges ever.

[shermjack]

From what I understand, the shipping prices are much higher now than they were when they initially ran the campaign (up to 3 times more based on my personal experience), so they either don’t have the funds to ship or are waiting for shipping prices to go down. I have written them to inquire about my pledge and how I may be able to get it…if I hear back, I’ll let you know.

[GandalfPC]

Shipping prices are hardly an excuse for not shipping my order, as I ordered after the campaign at a price that doesn’t leave room for that as a valid reason.

[shermjack]

Shipping prices are hardly an excuse for not shipping my order, as I ordered after the campaign at a price that doesn’t leave room for that as a valid reason.

I’m not making excuses for them, just giving my two cents

[Fenrir]

I can say with some level of certainty what the problem is. Based on the comments on the KS and from what I have heard from others the issue is COVID increased shipping prices to a point where the initial charge no longer covers it and the buffer room for profit built into the decks won't cover it. Hence the full silent treatment. They are trying to hold out until prices come back to a reasonable amount and then they can fulfill the decks. If you read the comments you can see that some people have "upgraded" to DHL Express shipping. I am fairly confident this is just paying for shipping on top of the campaign in order to actually receive their goods.

[GandalfPC]

As long as they eventually ship I don’t care personally - and I doubt they want to toss their business down the toilet by not doing so. But you never know when you get the silent treatment…. I know that they charged my card on 3/21/22 after I placed my order on 1/27/22

As for Visa card rules on purchases it seems to me this applies when charging for a purchase before shipping: “ The terms and conditions must specify the date of shipping of the goods or services to the Cardholder.”

5/11 - after a bit of a dust up, tracking number in hand.

[HostileTraveler]

Did you ever receive these? I've seen similar things in the comments about "upgrading" shipping but I'm curious if it's worth it. If they're expecting shipping prices to go down, it's going to be a long wait...

[bdawg923]

It's going to be dependent on where you are. You can email them and they might you a shipping quote for DHL. Whether it's worth it is up to you though

[GandalfPC]

They told me they would be posting an update regarding wrapping up the campaign by the 12th of this month - I would wait another 10 days before considering paying more

(Personally I would wait until a cold day in hell before paying more, but what you decide is up to you…)

[Eric Lee]

It also doesn't help that the forex for M'sia MYR to USD has gone from around 4.1 to 4.4 now since the war began. So they are 2x screwed over with higher shipping costs and forex rates to boot.

That's the problem with many creators who choose to go silent and think they can sort it out quietly. That only adds to the mistrust. I just hope they don't pull a Vanda on the remaining backers. ( i would use Natalia Silva, but I doubt the newer people here will know who she is. )

[GandalfPC]

The difference between them and Vanda is that it appears they have produced the cards. Getting stuck with the cards and having people get their money back seems to be a reasonable thing for them to avoid.

I did get my cards from Skymember, quite shortly after contacting them, without paying extra. It did require threats of taking my money back that they found credible.

Vanda appears to have produced nothing, and spent the money on his living expenses - meaning he can only try to hide while he tries to dig out of the hole or run out the clock on the statute of limitations


One thing skymember seems to have forgotten is that taking a loss is not a big deal in business - it happens - there are ways to survive the loss and move on to the next profitable project - but not if you toss your business down the toilet by handling it poorly in an attempt to avoid the loss.

[brownsl]

Regrettably, I pledged quite a hefty amount on this campaign, so I would be willing to pay more for shipping to get my rewards. I wouldn't like it but it would be better than to lose the entire amount.

[james001a]

Unfortunately, they seem to be hiding from their problems, and that is a no win situation. So am I understanding correctly in that some on here contacted them, were asked for or offered additional money for the decks, and have received them? I have to ask because if that is working, why haven't they reached out to backers as a possible solution? I don't like it, but if that is what needs to be done so I can get my decks, I may go that route. Still, I distrust them for being so silent and will no longer support them.

[GandalfPC]

I would still suggest patience for another 10 days or so before sending them more money, as they have promised (about two weeks ago) to post an update wrapping the campaign in three weeks (about a week from now)

They have supposedly been working on finding a shipping solution

[bdawg923]

I would be shocked if they actually posted an update and fulfiled the pledges. I think it's more likely they will remain silent and hope people one by one pay them more whenever they get tired of waiting. Maybe once like 60-70% of people pay for DHL shipping, they will pay the much smaller amount to ship the remainder of the pledges.

[GandalfPC]

I’m not going to be shocked either, but I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and should they not come through I will take it as a personal challenge to light a fire under their asses big enough to be seen from space.

[Harvonsgard]

Isn't a business attached to skymember presents? Like they do sell magic tricks and stuff, don't they? Their business must really be struggling if they can't ship stuff out.

[GandalfPC]

They have a pretty limited selection of stuff (a few dozen items) - seems that all are on sale, also seems that website traffic is pretty low

[GandalfPC]

I reached out to them via instagram to remind them of the upcoming deadline (the 12th of June, three weeks since my last contact with them) and that have replied that they will be posting an update on or before that date. I was clear on my intentions, and my expectations, the details of which I will discuss here only if the update fails to meet the needed criteria. It is not my intention to be unreasonable, nor to be placated.

[james001a]

So it looks like Murphy's is selling a "rescue" version of this deck with a retail price of $175 in order to help fund the production/fulfillment of the original KS. Here are the final few lines from the description:

"The Origin; a beginning of everything. It's a story forever marked in humankind that we believe should be a piece of everyone's life.

If you weren't able to hop on it the first time, you can't afford to miss Rescue Edition. Get yours now today.

Disclaimer: The Rescue Edition is not a limited number or limited time release. It is a variation of the Collector Edition for those who missed the Kickstarter Limited Edition."

[bdawg923]

I applaud them for trying new things but this makes absolutely no sense. Backers who already gave them money aren't going to buy this. Because they are already owed decks. Why buy this to double up on decks when there's no guarantee they'll even receive the original decks. And new people won't buy this because hello it's a $175 deck of standard cards. New buyers couldn't care less that backers didn't get their stuff. They have no reason to support this.

[GandalfPC]

Well, it is a nice presentation, and as people had paid over $100 for them on Backerkit before 175 is only a bit of a stretch, though it may be too much to mover the number required - I think they list prices in suggested retail there so perhaps there is room

It is impressive that anything at all is happening, hope does spring eternal it seems

https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=73114

[krystalie]

I'm confused... How are they able to afford to make the 'rescue' editions and not just make the OGs. Like if "It is a variation of the Collector Edition", how about not going through the trouble of making a variation and just focus on the problem. If you got the time and funds to do these shenanigans, you probably got the time to fix your mess. I mean if I'm wrong could someone explain?

[laitostarr777]

So it looks like Murphy's is selling a "rescue" version of this deck with a retail price of $175 in order to help fund the production/fulfillment of the original KS. Here are the final few lines from the description:

"The Origin; a beginning of everything. It's a story forever marked in humankind that we believe should be a piece of everyone's life.

If you weren't able to hop on it the first time, you can't afford to miss Rescue Edition. Get yours now today.

Disclaimer: The Rescue Edition is not a limited number or limited time release. It is a variation of the Collector Edition for those who missed the Kickstarter Limited Edition."

This Rescue edition is.... apperently the Rainbow Gold Gilded edition, the one that comes from the Deluxe Edition. Am I right?
Then it's slightly different with the standalone Collector's Edition from KS, that is Rainbow Silver. The only extras for this is that glorious holographic artwork sleeve to cover the deck with the carat case, along with the Eve figure on the layered cut artwork

[laitostarr777]

Heads up! The link doesn’t work anymore. Not sure if the item is simply got taken off or just sold out?